Angle Berrybushes are tall plants, known for their ability to grow year round as well as produce the notable Angle Bushberry. The plant is indigenous to Anglia and has spread in popularity along with House Kade. The Bushberry is the main ingredient in many baked goods, drinks, and is used to decorate various areas of Unionist religious structures. The plant remains a local and national favorite for their abundance, flavor, and simple beauty.

Contents

History

Angle Berrybushes have played an important role in Anglian culture for a number of years. Information on the plant’s integration into Anglian society is limited, but it was noted to exist at least three centuries before the Cataclysm. The plant grew to have religious significance in the local Old Gods Union of Fire and the Old Fayth deities of Daguyr and Balla, resulting in the plant adorning altars to the various gods. With the rise of the Regalian Empire and the creation of Unionism, Unionist preachers pushing into the region took the approach of combining local traditions and activities with Unionist doctrine, believing that over time the more heretical and local beliefs could be phased out. Unfortunately, that is not the case, and the strange mesh of Unionist and Old Gods ideals remains to this day. This mesh has resulted in the Angle Bushberry, the fruit the bush produces, being used to decorate the altar, interior window sills and areas around candles in Unionist buildings. The berry is also commonly seen in winter festivals as it is one of the few plants to grow year-round and has come to symbolize warmth. With the rise of House Kade over the past several decades to the point that they were the Imperial Family, these practices have also spread and appear in many other regions of the Regalian Archipelago. These practices and their popularity are likely to continue unless wider Unionism forces these practices to change and the plants are taken out with them.

Appearance

The Angle Berrybush is a tall bush, standing at five to six feet in height. The bush has thin white or dirty white bark with small, pale green, and elliptic leaves tinged white around the edges. From the ground to half a foot up the tree’s base, the bark pushes out to form white, horizontally-pointed thorns. The shrub produces Angle Bushberries, which are small, various shades of red fruits that are the size of a marble. They grow in clumps on the upper branches of the Berrybush and are found there year round. However, in the wintertime, they are harder and tarter compared to their normal taste.

Uses and Abilities

Angle Bushberries have a variety of uses, mostly culinary but they also play a significant role in decoration as well. The berries are used in alcohols, pies, cakes, and can be eaten raw as well. When eaten fresh, they turn the mouth red. They are often used to decorate the altars of churches in many areas of the Archipelago and can be found hanging in wreaths or long bands of vegetation at winter festivals. Another more recent use is that some have discovered the berry looks somewhat similar to blood when crushed and smeared on a surface. This effect has resulted in their use primarily by theatre productions, but some do also use it for less honest means such as creating purposefully complex scenarios or framing another for violence.

Trivia

Some nobles are known to take Angle Berrybushes and grow them smaller in their homes, but these specimens rarely last beyond a decade of growth before withering and dying. For comparison, the oldest known Berrybush is 250 years old and is found in western Anglia.

The thorns that grow at the bottom of the Angle Bushberry are sometimes used to form the punishment crowns Unionism uses against heretics or those who have sinned.